class: center, middle, inverse, title-slide # How Turning Weather Experiences Into Climate Experiences Shapes Opinions: A survey experiment ## DPS Research Days 2022 ### Søren Damsbo-Svendsen ### Department of Political Science
University of Copenhagen ### 19 January 2022 --- # Background - My **project**: How personal experience with extreme/unusual weather shapes climate opinions and behavior -- - For instance, **exposure to unusual recent temperatures or a flooding event** can increase climate awareness/concern (sometimes also opinions and behavior) -- - But why? It must depend on what (other) information/knowledge they have about **the climate-weather link**. Why else relevant? -- - Key project hypothesis: **Media climate coverage or other provision of information on climate-weather link strengthens effects of weather experiences** -- - Long story short: **Hard to do causal study** of experience-knowledge interaction → but with this study we directly attempt it (for the first time) --- # This study .pull-left[ <br> - Is a subproject with Tobias Heide-Jørgensen - To assess if **information (knowledge) about climate-weather link strengthens effects of experience**, we do a: ] .pull-right[ <img src="data:image/png;base64,#media/20180719_163331_red2.png" width="350px" style="display: block; margin: auto 0 auto auto;" /> ] -- - **Survey experiment** with 30 questions, 2500 respondents, and 6 experimental groups -- - We also want to address (1) the **direct effect of personal weather experiences** and (2) of **information** plus (3) whether **priming self-interest** considerations is necessary/effective, as well as (4) **how effects vary** among groups (e.g., based on ideology, political awareness, environmentalists/the rest) -- - **Case: Heatwaves, high temperatures, and extreme summer of 2018** (with heatwaves, record-breaking sun, heat, and drought, burn ban, etc.) --- # This study **Four treatments** -- 1. Prompt and subtle "aid" to **recall 2018 summer weather** 2. **Information** about climate change causing more extreme weather 3. Same as 3. plus the information that it may have serious personal **health-related consequences** (to prime self-interest) 4. Objective local, recent outdoor **temperatures** (observed) -- **Four outcomes** 1. Climate **awareness** (index) 2. Climate **opinions** (index) 3. **Willingness-to-act** (single measure) 4. **Willingness-to-pay** (single measure) --- # Theoretical framing and contribution <br> - Design is almost settled, but theoretical framing is not, so -- - **How do we think about and frame this interaction between information and personal experience?** -- - Information about the climate-weather link makes personal experience **relevant**, it **activates** it as a **source of information** or as a **useful heuristic** -- - We are considering framing it with Hopkins (2010), modified:<br>**Climate-weather information _politicizes_ local weather experiences** *** -- - We contribute to: - (Climate) **opinion formation** and political behavior literature including information processing and role of experience and self-interest - Climate change **communication** --- class: title, center, middle # Thank you! --- # Survey design sketch <img src="data:image/png;base64,#media/design2.png" width="425px" style="display: block; margin: auto;" />